Moss Bluff’s library is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which lends less per resident than 53% of systems its size
Moss Bluff’s library is the Moss Bluff Branch, a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which serves 206,861 people and lent 1M items last year.
What stands out about Moss Bluff Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Moss Bluff’s civic life grade
Moss Bluff isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
Volunteering in Moss Bluff
Moss Bluff is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
11.5%
11.5% of Moss Bluff’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Moss Bluff’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Calcasieu Parish Public Library serves 206,861 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 34 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Calcasieu Parish Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
387,378 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 29 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Moss Bluff Branch, 261 Parish Road, Lake Charles.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Calcasieu Parish Public Library branch.
New in Moss Bluff? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.48 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Moss Bluff cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $13M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $13M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 48,113 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moss Bluff | Moss Bluff Branch fine-free | — | 65 | — unincorporated |
| Lake Charles | Calcasieu Parish Public Library fine-free | — | 65 | B+ |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Moss Bluff Branch is one branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 206,861 people it serves.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Moss Bluff
Does Moss Bluff have a public library?
Yes: Moss Bluff Branch, 261 Parish Road, is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, which serves 206,861 people. The branch is open about 65 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Calcasieu Parish Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Moss Bluff’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 4.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Moss Bluff’s civic life grade?
Moss Bluff isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Calcasieu Parish Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Moss Bluff.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.